LONDON: Police in the UK have urged the public to be vigilant and not to approach a patient from a secure hospital in Ealing, West London, who absconded from a newsagent’s shop while on escorted leave.
The man, identified by Metropolitan Police as 26-year-old Mosa Jamal Abid, ran from the shop, in Uxbridge Road, at about 3pm on Monday and is thought to have entered Brent Lodge Park. He was last seen wearing a navy-colored hooded jacket, black trousers and blue trainers.
Police said that he might approach local mosques at iftar looking for food. He also requires medication for a health condition, and so he might also go to a hospital for assistance, they added. Officers were said to be keeping hospitals and mosques in the area informed of developments in the manhunt. They appealed for information to help locate Abid but warned members of the public against approaching him.
Detective Inspector Alistair Stillgoe, from the local policing team in west London, said: “I want to assure you that we have officers working round the clock to find Mosa and return him to hospital as soon as possible.”